Opinion page editor Rick Holmes and other writers blog about national politics and issues. Holmes & Co. is a Blog for Independent Minds, a place for a free-flowing discussion of policy, news and opinion. This blog is the online cousin of the Opinion
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Opinion page editor Rick Holmes and other writers blog about national politics and issues. Holmes & Co. is a Blog for Independent Minds, a place for a free-flowing discussion of policy, news and opinion. This blog is the online cousin of the Opinion section of the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Mass. As such, our focus starts there and spreads to include Massachusetts, the nation and the world. Since successful blogs create communities of readers and writers, we hope the \x34& Co.\x34 will also come to include you.

One of the things that missing in the discussion about Egypt and military aid is that the United States bribed the Egyptians back in 1979 at the Camp David Massacres. Egypt knew that its solitary peace treaty was likely to make it new enemies, and Egypt was equally committed to keeping the Sinai demilitarized, but what Egypt really wanted was money. Camp David was all about finding the tipping point where it made sense for Egypt to be bought and paid for, although, maybe Sadat came to regret the price. In any event, it is wise to remember that Israel was also bought–Begin had more common with Sadat than either of them did with Gandhi. And the Israelis were more than willing to give up the Sinai for security promises made by the United States–and lots of cash. Historians are pretty comfortable with the idea that Camp David was a rug bazaar, not a peace treaty.
So what happens if the United States cuts back on aid to Egypt and the Egyptian military pulls out of Sinai? Is the United States prepared to send in troops? Cause Obama can rest assured that if the United States doesn’t go in, Israel will.
And then we have another strange problem. On one hand, the United States wants to support democracy and the Islamic government democracy brought to power in Egypt, at the same time the United States wants to recognize that an Islamist government is evil and antithetical to American interests.
So why the hell is Obama pushing the Israelis to negotiate with elected islamofascists within the PLO? Either we believe that Islamists can run a government, at which point the US must condemn the military coup, or it must accept that Islamists are not to be trusted, in which case the farcical peace talks in Israel can end.
In all the discussion about military aid to Egypt, two questions had better be answered before aid is cut–is the United States ready to honor its obligations under Camp David, or to allow the Israelis to go back in? Second, what is Obama going to do if aid is cut, Egypt bursts into civil war and that safety of our oil supply is jeopardized? Are we ready for another war for oil?
If you drive a car, or if you love your freedoms, you gotta love the Egyptian military, because we know what the alternative looks like.